On November 22, 2012 Mohamed Morsi executed a major power grab in Egypt which shouldn’t surprise anyone, but seemed to do exactly that. With a flick of a pen he stripped Egypt’s jurists of their power to overturn his dictates and revealed himself to be the same strongman type dictator that Egyptians just rejected in Hosni Mubarak. He also revealed himself to be what many of us who watch this neighborhood and study the National Security threats posed to the U.S. in it knew he was prior to the election-a tool of the Muslim Brotherhood.

Since I understand that not everyone has the time, or the desire, to learn about groups like the Muslim Brotherhood (MB)-let’s face it dear reader its depressing-let me enlighten you. The MB was founded by Hasan al-Bana in 1928 to promote the implementation of Shari’ah law (Islamic Law derived from the Quran and the Suras) throughout the Muslim world and eventually the west. The Brotherhood has long been involved with Egyptian politics and is now in power via Mohamed Morsi’s presidency-read more about the Brotherhood’s history here.

In short, Morsi’s involvement with the Brotherhood should have been an early warning to all who were watching the revolution unfold last year. Granted, due to my associations and hobbies I had an insider’s view since I knew many women on the ground in Egypt. Many of those ladies wisely exited stage left and either came back home or fled to countries where they could still work in the hospitality industry as performers without fear of being brought in on immorality charges by a Shari’ah adherent government. When Mohamed Morsi took over, I realized that my ability to ever travel to Cairo to study was effectively quashed.

Why you ask-because Shari’ah is a totalitarian system in the hands of ANY government. Morsi just provided the world with a glowing example of that fact. The new “Constitution” of Egypt was largely written by Islamist hardliners (read more here) who wish to put women in Egyptian society back in the roles they feel they are meant for-in the home, under the control of their male relatives. Shari’ah’s totalitarian tendencies can be seen anywhere it is the law of the land. In Saudi Arabia the Kingdom’s border authority text messages women’s husbands notifying them when they have crossed a border and left the Kingdom-even if the wife is travelling WITH the husband. I don’t need to remind you about what ladies in Afghanistan suffer do I?

What does all of this have to do with us here in the U.S.? Prior to the revolution, Egypt had been a stalwart ally of the United States, a friend in an otherwise dodgy neighborhood. For American tax payers-this is a very bad development since our government is now supporting a known terrorist organization (the Muslim Brotherhood) with a proposed package of $1.5 billion in military aid. Add to that the debt forgiveness proposed by the Obama administration in the amount of $1 billion and Uncle Sam is into the MB for $2.5 billion all told. Perhaps now is the time to become active in making your voice heard as a U.S. taxpayer.